Celebration at the State House

Today I spoke at American International College in Springfield and after that headed over to the State House in Boston. Tonight, Massachusetts celebrated some of the great businesses started by the state's young entrepreneurs. We got there a bit late because just like a song by The Walkmen, we got lost in boston. After getting there, we met some cool people from around the state. Elizabeth and I talked for a bit with Johnny of the killer brand Johnny Cupcakes... after chatting Houdini, he made Elizabeth's business card disappear with a good ol' magic trick. I think I'll make some dollars disappear and buy some a cupcake t-shirt or two, you should too. Anyways, it was a nice night in Boston.

Entrepreneurship in the "City of Firsts"

Last Friday, I spoke at the Grinspoon Entrepreneurship Conference at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, MA. I met tons of passionate young entrepreneurs and students that are interested in starting their own businesses. I gave my first ever keynote speech, to a room of 700 people... it was an exciting experience. Thank you to the Harold Grinspoon Foundation for putting on such a great event!

Hanging in Chicago

I just got back from a quick trip to the beautiful city of Chicago. I was back again this year as a judge for the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards. It was very exciting to walk around Grant Park the day after American history was made with the election of Barack Obama, the energy was evident.

I spent the bulk of Wednesday afternoon re-exploring the city with my friend Fraser Doherty of the Scottish company SuperJam. We hit up Ed Debevics for lunch, smoked old-man pipes while getting our shoes shined by an ethusiastic scam artist, and everything in between.

That evening the judges, student competitors, and various entreprenuers were invited to Bill Farley's lovely Beaux-Arts residence for some good old stories and networking. Mr. Farley is a business icon who ran a couple multi-billion dollar enterprises and is also Oprah's neighbor. I had the great opportunity of meeting Bill Farley, talking with Robert Kiyosaki, and swapping cards with other ambitious entrepreneurs.

On Thursday, I judged a bunch of incredible presentations from the best student entrepreneurs around. After that, I talked with a couple friends, old and new, and headed to Midway for my flight back home. All in all, my trip to the "Windy City" was wonderful and I can't wait to go back.